Liquid meter



1937 R. W. DE. LANCEY ET AL 2,

LIQUID METER Filed Aug. 50, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [Even/3301's alph/ W D eLcumce C curltom P fh'umsw orc 1 Patented Aug. 10, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIQUID METER Ralph W. De Lancey and Carlton P. Ainsworth, Lynn, Mass.

Application August 30, 1935, Serial No. 38,513

7 Claims.

Our invention relates to domestic heating with fuel oil, and includes among its objects and advantages an improvement in keeping track of the Figure 2 is a plan view of the topcompartment in the chamber l6. 7

i In use the meter is connected between the home owners storage tank and the fuel burner. It thus provides an accurate register of the volume of liquid as it passes out of the storage tank. With the meter thus located, it is possible for the home owner and dealer to do business on the basis of payment by the home owner at the time the fuel is withdrawn from the tank, instead of immaterial when the tank is filled, provided it is never allowed to become empty, and the dealer is enabled to use the storage tanks of his customers for his own storage capacity. Also, because the meter itself can be sealed and certified by the state inspectors, just like the gas meter and water meter, all controversies as to the amount of fuel delivered are avoided.

Accordingly, fuel from the storage tank may enter through the inlet [8 passing first through the tubular passage 20 into the interior of the barrel screen 22. This screen is held in place by a plug 24 provided with a sealing gasket at 26 and clamped home-against the sealing gasket 45 by a, bridge 28 held down by fastening screws,

one of which is shown at 30. that a relatively loose mechanical fit at the neck 32 where the nipple 34 on the intake end of the screen, rides over the end of the passage 20, is ample to permit the screen to function effectively to withdraw any solid impurities in the supply that might interfere with the functioning of the meter or ofthe burner and associated devices.

From the screen 22 the fuel passes upwardly chamber l4, and registering means on top housed at the time the tank is filled. This makes it 1 It has been found through the uptake 36 subject to automatic valve control, to be described hereinafter, into the main measuring chamber l4, and from the measuring chamber I4 it passes down again subject to automatic valve control, through the lateral passage 38 shown in Figures 1 and 5 into a sump occupying substantially the entire volume of the lower storage chamber l2.

From the lower storage chamber I2 it passes through the outlet 39 to the burner and associated devices.

The service for which this meter is intended imposes certain particular requirements for successful operation. The flow is normally low, in many cases being not more than two gallons per hour of continuous operation of the burner, and in some cases even less. Some types of burners employ an oil pilot light and the meter should I be able to register the fiow to this pilot light which may not exceed a gallon in twenty-four hours. head.

It is thus important that the parts of the meter shall operate freely without any tendency to stick or bind, and it is also important that the valve mechanism for controlling the flow through various parts of the meter shall operate easily and positively.

Flow control The automatic valve means for the chamber l4 comprises a double intake valve 40 and 42 and a single discharge valve 44. Power to operate these valves comes from the float 46. The central actuating rod 48 passes through thefloat 46 with generous clearance between the rod and float to permit free relative movement limited by an upper contact flange 50 and a lower contact flange 52 on the rod 48.- In the position illustrated in Figure 1 the mechanism has just been moved to the position shown, and the chamber ll contains a maximum amount of liquid. Both valves 40 and 42 are closed and the open valve 44 establishes free communication between the chamber I 4 and the lower chamber l2. From the chamber l2 a small air vent 54 runs up through the wall of the chamber l4, debouching into the chamber l6 inside the space protected by the upper chamber cover 56. Accordingly, the liquid in chamber l2 will rise in the vent 54 to the same level as in the chamber l4.

In the absence of the withdrawal of fuel the parts will remain in the position of Figure 1 indefinitely, and leakage into the chamber I4 is prevented by both valves 40 and 42, each of which Often, also, the flow is under a very low presses upwardly against its seat and each of which is held closed by its own independent spring. The employment oi two independently seated valves reduces the possibility of leakage into the chamber l4 occasioned by improper seating of a valve due to the presence of foreign matter on the valve seat or from other cause, during the time when oil is flowing out of these chambers, any such leakage failing to be registered by the meter.

Any withdrawal of fuel through the outlet 39 will lower the liquid level and the float 46 will move down accordingly. This withdrawal will continue until the float 46 engages the contact flange 52.

Pivoted on a bifurcated standard 58 is a primary actuating lever 60, the free end of which lies between the upper contact member 62 and the lower contact member I carried by the actuating rod 4!. An intermediate point of the lever is connected by a link 68 to an intermediate point of the primary snap-over lever 88 pivoted at "It on the central pedestal 12. The central pedestal 12 is continued up above the pivot Ill into spaced standards ll slotted at 18 to receive a guide head 18 at the lower end of the rod 48. The secondary snap-over lever Ill operates the valves", 2, and I4, and is also pivoted on the same pintle at It. The remote ends of the levers 68 and ID are T-shaped as indicated at 89 and 8|, and the ends of the T's are interconnected by a pair of springs, one of which is illustrated at '2.

Continued downward movement of the float after contacting the flange 52 will turn the lever 60 in a clockwise direction and the lever 88 in a counterclockwise direction without any movement oi the lever '0 until the springs 82 have been stretched and the levers 88 and III are in alignment with each other. During the initial 'stages of this movement the force necessary to elongate the springs I! will lift the float It and cause it to ride higher with respect to the liquid level in the chamber, but at the time dead center position is reached, the eiiective force of the springs 82 has been graduaiLv decreased to zero, so that at dead center position the float 46 will ride at the normal undisturbed level with respect to the liquid in which it floats.

As soon as dead center is passed, the arm 68 will 'snap down as far as it can go, being limited in its downward movement either by contact between the end oi the arm I and the bottom wall at u, or in any other suitableway as by contact between any part of the arm I and the pedestals l! or II. The force oi the springs II is now eilective with a fairly large angle to snap the lever 80 down as far as it will go. This downward movement will flrst deprive the valve 42 or its support on the lever 88 so that the valve 42 drops down to ride on the tit 88 projecting upwardly from the valve 40; second, the lever ID will permit the valve 44 to move down onto its seat ll; third, the lever" will continue down and strike the flange ll in the middle of the stem of the valve 42, and move both valves 42 and ll down against the tension oi the lower valve holding spring 92 to open communication between the chamber I4 and the inlet ll; fourth, the opening movement of the valves 42 and 40 will be limited by mechanical contact of the lever 80 with the upper ball-shaped portion of the valve ll, which imposes on the valve N the force of the springs 82 to hold the valve ll tightly closed.

In this position the contents of the chamber i2 are completely out ofl from the chamber i l,

but by reason of the air vent 54, the fuel in the flll the chamber i4. During the initial stages of this refilling the float 46, which was previously in contact with the flange 52, will move up a considerable distance and then make contact with the upper flange 50'. The further upward movement of the float will lift the lever I until it again moves into dead center alignment with the lever 80, and at this point the parts will snap back into the position illustrated in Figure 1, the springs 82 acting to close the valve 42, and the spring 92 closing the valve ll. The chamber I4 is now refilled to the condition indicated in Figure 1 and again connected with the sump 12, which will promptly reflll until the liquid in it moves up the air vent 54 to the level of the liquid in the chamber l4.

Each of the valves 42 and H, being provided with a stem extending upwardly from the base of the chamber I 4 and through a hole in the lever arm 80 and having enlarged spaced head portions above and below the am It too large to pass through these holes, has thus a lost motion connection with the arm lll, that ior the valve 42 being of greater extent than that for the valve 44 since the lever acts on the valve 2 further from its fulcrum than it acts on the valve M. It will be noted also that all three valves ll, 42 and 44 are set to close in the direction of fluid flow and that the valves 40 and H are further biased to normally closed position, the valve MI by the spring 92, and the valve 44 by gravity. The lost motion between the lever arm 8| and the valves and H provides for an intermediate position of the lever arm 80 in which both inlet and outletpassages may be closed, so that with the biasing of the valvescontrolling these passages to closed positions, the inlet passage opens only after the outlet passage has been closed and the outlet passage opens only after the inlet passage has been closed at each actuation of the valves by the float. Thus, even .though the snap action mechanism should fail to completely function at any time, there is no opportunity for the liquid to pass through the meter chamber I 4 without acting on the float and being registered. In the positions of the parts shown in Figure l, the arm 80 pressing on the upper head of the inlet valve 42 holds this valve closed, while in the other snapped position of this arm, it bears against the lower head of the outlet valve and holds the outlet valve closed.

M eterina We provide registering means conditioned on vertical movement of the float ll in one direction only and entirely independent of the refilling mechanism, for registering the linear movement of the float in the direction selected, as an indication of the amount of fuel passing through the device. It will be apparent that, with such registering means, nothing but irregularities in the bore of the chamber ll combined with extreme variations in the excursion of the float 46 would have any effect on the ratio between the amount of fuel passing through the device and the amount of movement registered by'the registering means. The registering means illustrated is arranged to be actuated by downward movement of the float 46 and to be inactive during the refilling operation.

A bracket 94 is fixedly mounted on top of the float 46 and loosely pivoted to a vertical connecting link 96. This bracket is secured to the float as near to! its center as possible and the link 96 is positioned very near to 'the vertical, in order that thrust imparted to the fioat through the link 96 from the register mechanism will be ineffective to tilt the float sufliciently to cause any binding or other interference to its free movement as produced by variation in the amount of liquid within the chamber I4. The link 85 passes through an open clearance hole at 98 in the cover plate I00 separating the chambers I4 and I6. At its upper end the link 96 carries a horizontal pivot I02 which passes through aslot at I04 in an actuating arm I06 pivoted at I08. The pin I02 also passes through a slot H0 in a stationary guide plate II2. This slot is substantially arcuate, but it is not a circle around the axis of the pivot I08. Rather, it is a geometrically computed curve arranged to vary the distance between the pin I02 and the axis I08 in such a way as to compensate for the-varying angularity of the link 96, and secure for the lever I06 rotation precisely proportional throughout the range of movement of the device, to the vertical movement of the float 45. Such a shape is not at all diflicult to arrive at by simple geometrical layouts of the positions 'of the linkage, and it happens that a substantially circular are on a radius approximately twice as great as the distance between the pin I02 and the axis I08 will accomplish such correction with a mathematical accuracy in the layouts materially in excess of the mechanical execution.

The lever I06 turns the primary drive shaft of a set of registering dials, H4, H6, H8, I20, and I 22. Between the shaft and the lever we position an overriding clutch at I24 of suitable construction such as that indicated in Figure 4, where the shaft I26 carries three arms I28 each housing a spring I30 pressing against a locking ball I32. The locking balls I32 each ride on the curved surface I34 of the back of the next arm, and are wedged between the surface I34 and the barrel I36 of the clutch. The clutch at I24 is set to transmit motion during downward movement of the lever I06. In a fixed bracket I38 accuracy of we mount a duplicate clutch, set so as to prevent any counterclockwise rotation of the shaft I26. Accordingly, the clutch I38 will hold the shaft I20 stationary during upward movement of the lever I06 compelling the clutch I24 to release and slip.

The parts are preferably so proportioned that one revolution of the .dial II4 corresponds to exactly one gallon of fluid passing through the device. Accordingly, the peripheral numbers on the'dial II4 indicate tenths of a gallon. The dials are interconnected by theusual backshaft gearing on. the shaft I40 to turn the dial II6 one-tenth of a revolution on the completion of each complete revolution of the dial H4, and so on. Thus the dial II8 indicates gallons, the

dial II8 tens of gallons, the dial I20 hundreds of gallons, and the dial I22 thousands of gallons. Calibration The guide plate H2 is integral with a horizontal supporting plate I42 (see Figure 2) slotted at I44 and held down against the uper surface one end of the plate I42, the plate I I2 is turned laterally as at adjusting screw is threaded through the lug I56 integral with the plate I00, and the set screw I58 is threaded down from the top to engage the side of the adjusting screw. To calibrate the meter before putting it in service, an assembled unit as in Figure 1 is permitted to discharge an accurately measured quantity of liquid. Then if the amount registered on the dials differs from the measured amount, correction is by rotating the adjustment screw I54 to change the effective length of the lever I06. The correct adjustment is maintained by clamping down the set screw I58. Then the cover plate 56 can be bolted in place on the plate I00, and the device is ready for certification by the government inspector. It will be noted that both the air vent 54 and the opening-98 open inside the cover 56 and, where fire regulations require it, a short tube I 62 with an open upper end can be mounted on top of the housing 56, extending up a suificient .distanceto eliminate the possibility of fire hazard by explosion in case an explosive liquid having appreciable volatility is to be handled by the device.

Without further elaboration the foregoing will so fully explain our invention that others may, by applying knowledge current at the time of application, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

We claim:

1. In combination, a chamber having a wall provided with an inlet and an outlet passage, a valve for closing each of said passages and biased to closed position and having a stem extending on one side of said wall, a movable member having .a pair of spaced openings therethrough for receiving said stems, each of said stems havin a head thereon with which said member may engage in its movement to open the corresponding valve, said heads being arranged on opposite sides of said member whereby -motion of said member in one direction to a predetermined position opens one of said valves and in the other direction to another position opens the other of said valves, said heads and members being so relatively disposed that in an intermediate position of said member both valves may be closed, a float in said chamber, and means actuated by said float when approaching an upper and a lower position to move said member to open the outlet valve when said float is in the upper posi- I 50 to engage the peripheral groove at I52 in the-adjusting screw I54. The

tion and to open said inlet valve when said float is in the lower position.

2. In combination, a chamber having a wall provided with an inlet and an outlet passage, a valve for closing each of said passages and biased to closed position and having a stem extending on one side of said wall, a movable member having a pair of spaced openings therethrough for receiving said stems, each of said stems having a head thereon with which said member may engage chamber, and means actuated by said float when approaching an upper and a lower position to move said member to open the outlet valve when said float is in the upper position and to open said inlet valve when said float is in the lower position, said stems also having heads spaced from said first mentionedheads and on the op-- posite sides of said member therefrom positioned to be engaged by said member to cause said mem-- ber at opposite ends of its motion to hold one valve closed while it holds the other valve open.

3. In combination, a chamber having a wall provided with an inlet and an outlet passage, a normally closed valve for closing each of said passages, each valve having a stem, said stems projecting on the same side of said wall, said valves facing oppositely, an arm pivoted adjacent to one of said valves and engageable with the stems of both valves, a head on each stem engageable by said arm on motion of said arm in one or the other direction to different positions for causing said arm motion to open one or the other valve depending on the direction of said motion, said heads being so related to said arm that in an intermediate position of said arm both valves may be closed, a float in said chamber, and operative connections from said float for snapping said arm from one to the other of said positions to open said inlet valve when said float approaches a lower position in said chamber and to open said outlet valve when said float approaches an upper position in said chamber.

4. In combination, a chamber having a wall provided with an inlet and an outlet passage, a normally closed valve for closingeach of said passages, each valve having a stem, said stems projecting on the same side of said wall, said valves facing oppositely, an arm pivoted adjacent to one of said valves and engageable with the stems of both valves, a head on each stem engageable by said arm on motion of said arm in one or the other direction to different positions for causing said arm motion to open one or the other valve depending on the direction of said motion, said heads being so related to said arm that in an intermediate position of said arm both valves may be closed, a float in said chamber, and operative connections from said float for snapping said arm from one to the other of said positions to open said inlet valve when said float approaches a lower position of said chamber and to open said outlet valve when said float approaches an upper position in said chamber, said arm and stems having parts cooperating when said arm is in either of its snapped positions to hold one of said valves in closed position.

5. A liquid meter having a metering chamber provided with inlet and outlet passages, a pair of independently seated valves for controlling said inlet, means acting on one valve to open and close said valve, yielding means the other of said valves, and operative connections between said valves causing opening of said one valve to a definite extent to open the other valve.

6. A liquid meter having a metering chamber provided with an inlet passage and an outlet passage, one of said passages having a pair 01' valve seats spaced therealong, a valve cooperating with each valve seat, a spring normally closing one 01 said valves to its seat, and means opening and closing the other valve with relation to its seat. said valves having parts extending close to each other in such relation that the opening oi-said other valve to a predetermined extent forces said one valve open.

'7. A liquid meter having a meter chamber pro vided with inlet and outlet passages, valves for controlling said passages, a vertical rod in said chamber, means for supporting said rod for limited axial motion, a snap action valve controlling mechanism actuated by the reciprocation of said rod, 9. float in said chamber having a central opening through passes, said rod having upper and lower abutments with which said float may contact when in upper and lower positions of said chamber to actuate said snap mechanism by further motion or the float in the same direction after such contact has been established, and register connections secured to said float substantially in its central vertical axis and operating substantially in said axis for causing. actuation of a register on the descent only 0! said float.

RALPH W. DE LANCEY. CARLTON P. AINSWORTH.

which said rod loosely tending to close 

